ADVENT SCRIPTURES & SERMON STARTERS for Years A, B, & C Prepared by Julia Frisbie
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Week 1: HOPE Lectionary Year A: Romans 13:11-14 (MSG) Romans 13:11-12: “But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing!” Lectionary Year B: Mark 13: 32-37 (CEB) “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows. 33 Watch out! Stay alert! You don’t know when the time is coming. 34 It is as if someone took a trip, left the household behind, and put the servants in charge, giving each one a job to do, and told the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know when the head of the household will come, whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows in the early morning or at daybreak. 36 Don’t let him show up when you weren’t expecting and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to all: Stay alert!” 32
Lectionary Year C: Psalm 25:1-5 (NRSV) 1I
offer my lifeto you, Lord. 2 My God, I trust you.
Please don’t let me be put to shame!
Don’t let my enemies rejoice over me! 3 For that matter,
don’t let anyone who hopes in you
be put to shame;
instead, let those who are treacherous without excuse be put to shame. 4 Make your ways known to me, Lord;
teach me your paths. 5 Lead me in your truth—teach it to me—
because you are the God who saves me.
I put my hope in you all day long. Sermon Start During Advent, we prepare ourselves to welcome God into our world. The plea for God’s presence in Psalm 25 will be answered by the baby born in Bethlehem. As we retell the story, we are caught up by the promise of new life and God with us. This week’s scripture passages remind us to be alert for Christ, who will come among us when we least expect it. In Romans, Paul describes a literal re-arrival of Christ. Our joyful expectancy this season is not only for the retelling of a beloved story, but for the kingdom of God to come on Earth. In Mark, Jesus compares this second coming to a landowner gone on a journey who has left servants in charge. In this short parable, our role is to be servants taking care of the household entrusted to us. In order to be ready for Christ’s re-arrival, we must take care of the earth and of each other-- especially the least of these. Malaria is a disease of poverty that strikes hardest at the most vulnerable members of society: pregnant women and children under the age of five. A child dies every minute from this preventable disease. Just as God came into our world 2000 years ago as a helpless infant, God speaks to us today through children like these who are at tremendous risk. If we are serious about ushering Christ into the world, we must bring hope to those who suffer from malaria. We all want the best for our children. As a people of faith, we live in hope that all children will have a chance to grow up, and God will enter the world through them.
Children worship at the United Methodist church in Fulawahun, near Bo, Sierra Leone. Several villages in the Bo district received new, insecticide-treated mosquito nets from the United Methodist Church's Imagine No Malaria campaign in June. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.
Week 2: PEACE Lectionary Year A: Romans 15:5-7 (NRSV) 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude toward each other, similar to Christ Jesus’ attitude. 6 That way you can glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ together with one voice. 7
So welcome each other, in the same way that Christ also welcomed you, for God’s glory.
Lectionary Year B: Psalm 85:8-13 (CEB) 8 Let me hear what the Lord God says,
because he speaks peace to his people and to his faithful ones.
Don’t let them return to foolish ways. 9 God’s salvation is very close to those who honor him
so that his glory can live in our land. 10 Faithful love and truth have met;
righteousness and peace have kissed. 11 Truth springs up from the ground;
righteousness gazes down from heaven. 12 Yes, the Lord gives what is good,
and our land yields its produce. 13 Righteousness walks before God,
making a road for his steps. Lectionary Year C: Luke 1:78-79 (CEB) Zechariah’s prophecy 78 Because of our God’s deep compassion,
the dawn from heaven will break upon us, 79 to give light to those who are sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide us on the path of peace.” Sermon Start
In Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, a grave digger walks among grave markers. In this community, one in five children does not live to five years of age. For that reason, many children are not named until they survive infancy. The unnamed crosses in the photo above represent the graves of children who never grew big enough to be named. Photo by Mike DuBose.
Can you imagine living with the knowledge that you would lose one or more of your children to a preventable disease? This is the reality that malaria brings to many families in Africa. Everyone has lost someone they love. People live in fear of the next fever. Now imagine the peace that you would feel when you received a bed net to protect your children. How much would you pay to have that peace of mind? How much would you pay if it were someone else’s child who needed the protection? A bed net costs only $10.
Hassan Sesay and his wife Amindalo Sesay sit with their children Falmota, Marianne and Alice, in front of the new mosquito net they received as part of the Imagine No Malaria campaign at their home in the Gbo Chiefdom outside Bo, Sierra Leone. Photo by Mike DuBose.
Today’s scriptures describe God’s peace. The Psalmist praises a saving God who brings righteousness, love, truth, and peace to God’s followers. In Luke, Zechariah prophesies that Jesus will lead his followers in the paths of peace, because of God’s great compassion. The original Greek word translated as compassion, eleos, refers to: “mercy, pity; the moral quality of feeling compassion and especially of showing kindness toward someone in need.” (Teknia Greek Dictionary). Eleos has much in common with the Bantu word Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a South African philosophy of human kindness that says, “I am because we are.” Ubuntu means that all people are connected and we must help each other. In Romans, Paul entreats members of the church to extend the same compassion to each other as God extends to us, and to welcome everyone into the family of God. Our mandate is clear: we must show kindness to those in need and be agents of peace.
Week 3: JOY Lectionary Year A: Isaiah 35:1-10 (CEB) The desert and the dry land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus. 2 They will burst into bloom,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
They will receive the glory of Lebanon,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the Lord’s glory,
the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and support the unsteady knees. 4 Say to those who are panicking:
“Be strong! Don’t fear!
Here’s your God,
coming with vengeance;
with divine retribution
God will come to save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf will be cleared. 6 Then the lame will leap like the deer,
and the tongue of the speechless will sing.
Waters will spring up in the desert,
and streams in the wilderness. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, 1
and the thirsty ground, fountains of water.
The jackals’ habitat, a pasture;
grass will become reeds and rushes. 8 A highway will be there.
It will be called The Holy Way.
The unclean won’t travel on it,
but it will be for those walking on that way. Even fools won’t get lost on it; 9 no lion will be there,
and no predator will go up on it.
None of these will be there;
only the redeemed will walk on it. 10 The Lord’s ransomed ones will return and enter Zion with singing,
with everlasting joy upon their heads.
Happiness and joy will overwhelm them;
grief and groaning will flee away. Lectionary Year B: Luke 1:46-55 (CEB) 46
Mary said,
“With all my heart I glorify the Lord! 47 In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior. 48 He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored 49 because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name. 50 He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God. 51 He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations. 52 He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed. 54 He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
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remembering his mercy, just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.”
Lectionary Year C: Philippians 4:4-7 (CEB) Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! 5 Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. 7 Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Sermon Start 4
Today’s theme is joy. Isaiah describes the joy of a future time when we will be in right relationship with God. Paul’s letter to the Philippians reminds them to rejoice because God will take care of them. And Mary’s magnificat is one of the most beautiful, joyful passages in the bible. When she sang this spectacular song, Mary was a young, unwed mother-to-be, and those were scary circumstances. But her trust in God was absolute. That confidence brought her great joy. Like Mary, we sometimes face difficult circumstances. The reality that more than 650,000 people die from malaria every year can be overwhelming and paralyzing. But God has promised to be with us, bringing peace, hope, and joy. We can see signs of success: already, we have cut the death rate in half. We work towards a malaria-free world with the confidence of children of God. Let us give joyfully this Advent-- not out of a sense of dread or obligation, but in recognition of God’s abundant blessings. Zainab Koroma collects the offering at the United Methodist church in Fulawahun, near Bo, Sierra Leone. Several villages in the Bo district received new, insecticide-treated mosquito nets from the United Methodist Church's Imagine No Malaria campaign in June 2014. This district received its first bed nets from Imagine No Malaria in 2010, and since then, new congregations have sprung up in response to the United Methodist Church’s commitment to healthcare. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.
Week 4: LOVE Lectionary Year A: Matthew 1:18-25 (CEB) This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, before they were married, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly. 20 As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all of this took place so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: 18
Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son,
And they will call him, Emmanuel. (Emmanuel means “God with us.”) 23
When Joseph woke up, he did just as an angel from God commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he didn’t have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. Joseph called him Jesus. 24
Lectionary Year B: Psalm 89:1-2 (CEB) 1 I will sing of the Lord’s loyal love forever.
I will proclaim your faithfulness
with my own mouth
from one generation to the next. 2 That’s why I say,
“Your[b] loyal love is rightly built—forever!
You establish your faithfulness in heaven.”
Lectionary Year C: Luke 1:39-55 (MSG) 39-45 Mary didn’t waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly, You’re so blessed among women,
and the babe in your womb, also blessed!
And why am I so blessed that
the mother of my Lord visits me?
The moment the sound of your
greeting entered my ears,
The babe in my womb
skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.
Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
believed every word would come true! 46-55 And Mary said, I’m bursting with God-news;
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.
Sermon Start At the heart of Advent is God’s love for us, described in Psalm 89 as steadfast and everlasting. Jesus symbolizes and embodies that love. And Jesus calls us to love each other, even before he is born. The characters in our Advent stories have to cope with Mary’s unplanned pregnancy, and are called to love each other anyway. The love ushered in by Jesus disrupts cultural norms and transcends barriers. As people of God, we are called to respond in kind with radical love for each other. Through Imagine No Malaria, we can express love for our brothers and sisters in sub-Saharan Africa by walking alongside them as they fight a terrible disease. When we respond from a place of love, our gifts have the power to disrupt the norm of preventable deaths.
Kai Dumbuya cares for her grandson Kadiatu Kamara, who is sick with malaria, at the United Methodist Church's Kissy Hospital outside Freetown. Several villages in the Bo district will receive new, insecticide-treated mosquito nets from the campaign in the first planned redistribution to replace nets given in 2010. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.
Christmas Eve: IMAGINE Lectionary Years A, B, and C: Luke 2:1-20 (NRSV)
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In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 8
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“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” 15
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
“Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Sermon Start
Imagine the bright futures of malaria survivors. Since Christmas Eve is a time for storytelling, here is one of our favorite stories about the way that Imagine No Malaria can save lives.
A group of Imagine No Malaria staff visited Sierra Leone last summer for a bed net distribution. At one of their meetings with villagers, a man named Christopher Johnbull pushed through the crowd. “Please. My wife is pregnant and very sick,” he said, reaching for their hands. “Can you help?” They followed him back to his house to meet his wife Adama, who was nine months pregnant. It was obvious that her baby would come soon, but she was in no condition for delivery. Her feet were very swollen, she had a fever, and she was very weak. She was not strong enough to make the trip to nearby Mercy Hospital on foot. The team was able to escort Christopher and his wife Adama to Mercy Hospital in their vehicles, since the family had no money to hire a cab. This United Methodist health center specializes in maternal and child health care. Immediately, a nurse named Comfort Beah took Adama under her wing. Adama was diagnosed with malaria, severe anemia, and preeclampsia. Any one of those conditions can be life threatening. All three of them together meant that Adama was unlikely to survive labor without swift medical attention. With help from Comfort and other staff at Mercy Hospital, Adama received treatment and began to regain her strength. A few days later, she delivered a healthy baby girl. Adama and Christopher named their child Jan, after one of the Imagine No Malaria staff people. Today, their little family is thriving.
Watch a video of Adama at http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/villagers-testify-to-imagine-nomalarias-impact-on-lives
The Rev. Gary Henderson (left) prays with Adama Johnbull (center) and her husband Christopher Johnbull outside their home in Baima Songa near Bo, Sierra Leone. Adama Johnbull was nine months pregnant and was suffering from several medical complications, including malaria.
Comfort Beah (right), a maternal and child health aid at the United Methodist Church's Mercy Hospital in Bo, Sierra Leone, takes vital signs from Adama Johnbull who arrived at the hospital with pregnancy complications, including malaria.
Adama Johnbull rests beneath a stored mosquito net at the United Methodist Church's Mercy Hospital in Bo, Sierra Leone. Johnbull arrived at the hospital with pregnancy complications, including malaria. Photo by Mike DuBose.
